The Other Half of My Heart

Minerva and Keira King are twins, but most people wouldn’t know it.

Keira was born black, like Mama. And Minni was born white, like Daddy.

Now that the girls are in middle school, their differences are causing Minni to ask lots of questions – and notice the way people treat her differently than her sister.

She really sees and experiences it when Grandmother Johnson, their mother’s mother, calls. She convinces her daughter to send the girls across the country to Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, to participate in the Miss Black Pearl Preteen of America pageant.

As the stresses of the trip, being with a grandmother they barely know and the pageant multiply, Minni wonders if the bond between her and her twin will break.

The Other Half of My Heart by Sundee T. Frazier is an interesting story. I wonder how much more impactful it would be in the hands of a master like Kate DiCamillo or Katherine Paterson. Frazier is a good writer, but some of the scenes felt forced or fell flat for some reason I can’t identify.

Recommended for ages 9 and up.